Gender Roles In Women's Sports

From all corners of the globe, news headlines are becoming much more attentive to the issues surrounding women in sport. Female athletes are gaining more notoriety in the sports’ arena. However, the attention they are receiving, usually pertains to their appearance, rather than their skill. Further, they are continuously being over-sexualized and objectified and for these reasons, there is a need for sweeping change in the representation of female athletes in the media. This paper will discuss the portrayal of female athletes in the media, the coverage that women in sport receive, the current impacts that media has on women in sports, and what measures can be undertaken to curtail the current trend of the media.

While participation of women in sports has increased, the media representation of women in sports remains problematic. Even the most talented elite female athletes like Michelle Kwan and Monica Seles are portrayed in a sexual fashion, as a way of deemphasizing their athleticism and neutralizing any possible threat they might seem to pose to male viewers. Very few male athletes are portrayed in such an objectified manner; they are portrayed as competitors first and foremost, not as personalities. Also, the media coverage of athletes is disproportionately focused on male athletes. The coverage of female athletes tends to stress individualized female sports where women can be sexualized like tennis and figure skating, versus competitive team sports like basketball and soccer.

The discrimination and stereotyping of women playing certain types of sports has become a problem much larger than anyone would think. Sexism in sports is a minoritized mindset throughout the world; even though women are practicing the exact same thing as men, they are still seen as a lesser player based on their gender. Sexsim is spreading like an epidemic to countries around the world, killing many dreams of young women in the world of sports especially.

The negative connotation behind women participating in sports could disappear if people could see what they can do on a more consistent basis and it was more positive. If people are only able to see small and short stints of what is happening in the world of female sports, then they won’t be able to ever really change their minds on what they think about them. If the media even used half of the two percent to speak about things other than a female athlete’s body or facial features when they do speak about them, then women’s sports would be able to gain a few more admirers. If the focus was on their talents they would be respected as athletes instead of dainty ladies who don’t know anything about sports. They’ll gain fans who respect them just as much as they respect male

Turn on ESPN, and there are many female sports reporters, and many reports on female athletes. Flip through Sports Illustrated, and female athletes are dotted throughout the magazine. Female athletes star in commercials. Female athletes are on the cover of newspapers. Millions of books have been sold about hundreds of female athletes. However, this has not always been the case. The number of females playing sports nowadays compared to even twenty years ago is staggering, and the number just keeps rising. All the women athletes of today have people and events from past generations that inspired them like Babe Didrikson Zaharias, the All-American Professional Girls Baseball League, Billie Jean King, and the 1999 United States Women’s World Cup

Female athletes want to have a more equal place in society compared to male athletes, however, sexploitation, their portrayal in the media and sponsorship cycles inhibit them from this.

Women have always been less recognized in the sports world. Sexism in sports occur at every level- high school, college, professional, and Olympic. Recently, sexism in the Olympics has caused a lot of controversy in the media. Female athletes in the Olympics do not receive equal or positive attention in the media like the male athletes do.

Athletics is a profession dominated by men. Although there are many women athletes, none of them are as recognized as Kobe Bryant or Babe Ruth. The Women's Sport Report website shows different images of women winning trophies and competing in tight fitting clothing. Mariah Burton Nelson writes an article expressing the contrast in expectations for men and women in athletics. Men are encouraged to become competitive and aggressive in order to become professional athletes. On the other hand, if women act the same way the are seen as unfeminine. Opportunities for men are easily obtainable with hard work and recognized by others. While women who work just as hard are seen "out of their place" and get mad fun of for being manly. For example, everyone

In continuation, sports culture is a male dominant environment. The athletes that are past of sports teams can be viewed as strong, masculine and talented. Thus, classing them into typical male gender roles (Aphrodite Pristess, 2014). For this section I chose to take the first athlete to come out as gay and a more recent athlete coming out to compare their experiences. In 1978 Glenn Burke became the first openly gay man in sports culture. Regardless of his baseball talents he was quickly traded to a different team (Kaplan, 2015). When Burke came out acceptance was not an option. The sports organizations and teams were uncomfortable with his sexual orientation. In an interview, Burke admitted that the team he was playing for at the time offered

Many athletes are stereotyped by gender because the commentators are the ones speaking to the public while the public get familiarized to these stereotypes. Many commentators comment very stereotypical comments but to the public it is not very shocking due to the multitude of times it has occurred which they have grown familiar to. One of such was by a commentator , Colin Murray said during the Olympics that “the ultimate athlete would have ‘the stamina of Mo [Farah], the speed of [Usain] Bolt, the leap of [Greg] Rutherford and the bottom of Jess Ennis’” (Stanistreet). To a professional female athlete this was a very gender stereotyped comment due to the fact that only one of the four athletes mentioned was a woman and that the provocative part of the athlete, the butt, was given to a female athlete as the ultimate athlete. Through a study on the NCAA National Championship Games for men and women basketball, they have discovered that the commentators constantly mark the women's game repeating phrases like, “ ‘...some of the best women's college basketball teams..’, ‘...is a legend in women's basketball...’, and ‘...this NCAA women's semifinal is brought to you by ... ’” (Messner and Duncan).

Sexism limits our country. In a world where sexism still exists, women face challenges every day as they choose to embark in athletic activities. Even with the efforts of Title IX, which was established in 1972, there is not equality in sports for men and women. Sexism is real with stereotypes and discrimination on the basis of sex. Even with the high level of success reached by numerous female athletes of many different sports, male athletes always seem to have the upper hand. Whether it is pay, media, support, gear, or playing grounds, one sex always has the better of the two. Male athletes dominate a field that truly is shared by both sexes. What if we treated male athletes the way we treat female athletes? That is a world hard to imagine, and honestly, it shouldn't be. Through female athletes sharing their stories of unfair treatment and pay, sexism and generations of inequality in sports can be overcome.

Throughout the history of sports, there has always been a gender barrier. There are certain sports that are aimed towards females and others that are directed towards males. When men or women enter a non-traditional sport for their gender, it is not widely accepted. However, there are those few athletes that pave the way for the rest and eventually our society will change and accept the new ideas in sports. Some people will always make judgments about the athletes who cross that gender barrier. At the same time there are others who will respect and look up to these athletes as role models who they will someday follow.

However, after Title IX female athletes are still underrated compared to men (Ross, 2015). The problem starts with the athletes parents because we all know daddy’s boy will grow up to be the next big NFL or NBA player so they sign them up for flag football and all sorts of other little league sports. Meanwhile girls are sent to dance and art classes. All of this comes from more success stories for boys in sports than girls, as well they receive a lot more attention over girl sports.

Throughout the years, women have overcome certain stereotypes about entering male dominant sports. First of all, the author, Jennifer Banas, explains that it's “unladylike” for women to do specific sports, especially male dominated sports. Women are seen to play tennis, golf, figure skating, and gymnastics. “These sports demonstrate the ability and elegance “natural” for women…” says writer Jennifer Banas. Women should be able to show off their more sporty side if they want to and not be judged by society. Secondly, many women have overcome these stereotypes and have done great achievements. As Great Female Athletes in Male-Dominated Sports states, “In 1931, 17-year old Jackie Mitchell, a female pitcher for the Chattanooga Lookouts reportedly struck out both Lou

Many feel that if a female excelled in a sport, that she is masculine and a